Topsy-Turvy Tales: Inscape Journal January 2026 Contest
Ends on
This contest opens January 12th and closes February 13th at 11:59.
Rewrite a fairy tale, twist a classic epic, or reimagine a famous canon moment. Change the ending. Change the premise. Subvert expectations with a bold new take on a familiar story. Submit your creative fiction retellings for a chance to win a cash prize!
First Place Prize: $50 Second Place Prize: $25
The Dos
- Submission fee: $5 for each submission, and only one piece per submission.
- Submission length: Between 500 and 3000 words.
- Genre: Fiction
- Format: Please submit works as a DOC, DOCX, or PDF file. Include the title of your piece in the "Submission Title" field on Submittable.
- Language: Literary submissions must be written in English and may not exceed specified word limits.
- Who can submit: Anyone!
The Don'ts
- Don't include your name in any of the attachments.
- Don't submit previously published work. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please let us know if your piece has been accepted somewhere else.
- Current Inscape staff members may not enter or be considered for publication.
- We do not accept pieces that invoke the name of deity as an expletive. We also ask that you refrain from submitting anything depicting gratuitous sexual, violent, or otherwise morally objectionable content.
- The use of artificial intelligence to create submissions for Inscape Journal or Inscape contests is prohibited.
Any submission that does not follow these guidelines will not be considered. Visit our contests page and get a feel for what we publish.